Olive Branches
by zelda3469
Summary: Mai sighed, "Then how do you feel towards me?" Something very strange happened to Noll in that moment. Never before had he felt his heart pound so aggressively when faced with such a simple question. The feeling was completely unnatural to him, and it very much perplexed him. He had an inkling as to why he felt as he did, though he had been denying such a thought for weeks.
1. Flowers

Noll sat quietly throughout the whole ordeal, hands clasped together in his lap. All sound seemed to slowly fade away, leaving only a slight ring in his ears. His eyes were drawn to the center of the room, where a casket sat among the impressive masterpiece of a talented florist. The scented patches of white, pink, and lavender dominated the parlor with a fresh, airy odor that served to mask the somber atmosphere.

Luella was clutching her husband's hand while she sank her teeth into her tongue to keep from sobbing uncontrollably. She trembled while hiccuping silent cries. Dabbing a soggy tissue to her drowned irises, Luella squeezed Martin's numbing hand even more tightly. Her composure was was slipping at an unprecedented rate, and prior to the conclusion of her eldest son's service Luella had burst into a series of hysterical wails.

At a loss for what to do, Martin pulled his wife into his torso and gingerly rubbed her back with an unsteady hand. He then held her head against his shoulder and combed his fingers through soft strands of her golden hair.

Noll didn't move, not until most of the others in attendance had left and moved on into the dining room for an early lunch.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Noll spotted Lin. The older man was sitting a few chairs away, just watching him. Sighing, Noll stood.

"Lin, if you would please, join the others. I would like a moment to myself."

Without a word the older man quietly removed himself from the room, leaving Oliver alone to mourn in the company of total silence. Noll wasn't ever one to show his emotions in front of others. Perhaps Gene was the exception at one point in time.

The moment the door shut, Noll reached out his hand and pressed it against the polished wood nestled amongst the clusters of flowers. His palm skated over the slick edge of the casket as if it were forged from ice while he paced its length.

A mirror, framed in brass, hung on the wall captured Noll's reflection perfectly as his moved. He met his own eyes carefully, inspecting them as if he were suspicious that they were not his own.

"Are you capable of moving on?" Oliver spoke with a clear, annoyed tone.

His reflection began to move on its own before flashing a coy smile.

"I hate to disappoint you, idiot scientist, but as of this moment, I am still bound to the mortal world. I do promise that I have made…several attempts to move on, but I can't. It's like there is a gate I am supposed to pass through, but there is a force preventing me from doing so. There must be something I'm waiting for, or something I must make sure is done."

Noll huffed as he crossed his arms, "I see…baka. You better find out what it is that is keeping you from moving on. You know as well as I that remaining in this world too long is dangerous."

Gene waved his hand, "Yeah, I know. But, I can't exactly control my situation at the moment. It's not my fault I apparently have unfinished business."

"Then find a way to control it."

Gene smirked. "Fair enough then. You're going back to Japan!"

Oliver froze. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he closed his hands into tight balls. "I most certainly am not. Madoka will remain in Japan until further notice, and I have absolutely no intentions of going back."

"Ah, but you told me to find a way to control my situation. Hate to tell you idiot scientist, but the only way I'll be able to move on is if you return to Japan. Besides, I thought you told everyone you'd only be gone for two months."

"That had been my original intention, however I felt it best Madoka run the office in Japan. And why is it that you will only be able pass on if I return to Japan?" Noll demanded, taking a step closer to the mirror.

Wagging his finger, Gene shook his head, "Can't tell. I guess you could call it a rule, but I can't enlighten you further. You're the paranormal investigator. Go to Japan and figure it out for yourself."

"You damn stupid medium!" Noll shouted, his fist flying towards the mirror. Glass shattered as Oliver's knuckles met the shining wall decoration with high speed and fell to the floor in rigidly shaped shards.

Noll's closed hand was still pinning the ruined mirror against the wall as the door flew open and guests rushed in. Lin was first to push himself through the crowd gaping at the young investigator, followed by Luella and Martin.

"Oh Noll!" Luella whispered, her voice strained from sobbing. "You're hand, it's bleeding."

Lin carefully pulled Noll away from the wall with Martin's help. They sat him down in a chair and shooed the guests away as they began theorizing on Oliver's rash behavior.

"Are you alright?" Lin asked, inspecting Noll's hand.

Oliver didn't choose to answer Lin's question. Instead, he gazed at the broken mirror, then the flowers, and finally the casket.

"Lin, we will be returning to Japan."


	2. Eggs

Sitting on the plane, Noll slouched against the window looking out onto the endless ocean of white clouds. His cheek rested against his closed hand while he found himself stumped.

Something about himself had changed dramatically during his long stay in Japan. Before he even left London for the second time both Martin and Luella had commented on the abnormalities in his behavior - though most would have considered his abnormalities rather normal.

Luella had been utterly shocked when Noll actually ate something with eggs. She told Lin and Martin the moment she discovered him sitting at the kitchen table, eating leftovers from the night before. Noll's vegetarian diet had been completely understandable, rather it had been a requirement. Not only had Noll practiced Tai-chi with Lin in order to keep a handle on his abilities, but he had also practiced Tu-Na.

Lin occasionally ate eggs, but Noll tended to exclude them from his limited diet completely - which had made cooking for Luella a pain in the ass, not that she ever once said it. Really, when he realized that he had been eating a dish that incorporated eggs, Noll was rather surprised himself. He had also been more so surprised by the fact he had gotten out of bed a little past midnight for something to eat. Noll didn't usually care to eat very often, and unless he was reminded, he typically forgot.

Of course, willingly consuming eggs had not been the only oddity in his actions lately. There had been the incident with the mirror during the funeral, and then he had actually put some thought into his choice of wardrobe. Black had been easy. As was culturally expected, Noll wore black after Gene's passing, but he never cared to wear anything else simply because he didn't have any desire to got to the trouble of matching colors. But prior to his departure, Noll actually found himself debating on the style of clothing he should have worn from day to day.

Then, there was still a rather impressive sum of his strange behaviors that no one else but Noll alone knew of. His thinking in Japan had been odd, at least, when people other than just Lin were around. He had actually found himself hurt, emotionally, which was beyond unusual. And Noll had also allowed himself to get close - what Noll would have considered close - to those boneheads that constantly used his office as a cafe without the intention of personal gain. Then, there was Mai.

For God's sake he had let her kiss him. It was after the Christmas party he had allowed her to have in the office… She thought he had been sleeping… Noll didn't understand why he hadn't expressed his disapproval of his assistant's actions, or why he hadn't really disapproved of her actions for the matter. He didn't like attention, or people, honestly. So why had Noll been alright with attention from Mai? And why had it bothered him that she honestly preferred Gene to him?

Noll truly was stumped to no end. He didn't like Mai. She was much too loud for his liking. Yet he had been under the illusion that he had actually held a fondness for her.

Perhaps Gene's death has simply gotten to him on a subconscious level. They had once shared a mind after all. The sudden loss must have had him thinking irrationally, to compensate for absence of Gene's constant nonsense. Then there was the recent reminder that everything would forever be different, i.e., the funeral. That could have explained the more recent strings of his strange behaviors.

Yes, it all made sense to Noll. The lack of Gene's idiotic thoughts were to blame. It was the only reasonable explanation, because there was absolutely no way Noll could really change. People never really changed, not for the long term, at least.

"We're landing," Lin said, interrupting Noll's thoughts.

"..." Noll lazily turned his head and met eyes with his escort. He barely acknowledged him before returning his gaze to landscape that grew with each passing moment.

It was clear to Noll, what he had to do. In order to maintain a normality - an abnormality to most others - he would have to keep his distance. To those who tended to help with his investigations and worked in his office he would only present himself in a professional manner and only address each of them formally, no exceptions.

"I recommend we eat after we land," Lin continued, pulling Noll from his thoughts once more. "What would you like?"

Noll shrugged before speaking with a clipped tone, "I don't care as long as it doesn't have eggs."


	3. Formalities

"Come on Yasu! We don't have that much time until the narcissistic grump get back!" Mai shouted, her arms flailing at her sides as if she were a bird incapable of flight. "Madoka left his office pink! Pink! He's going to flip when he sees it! We have to repaint and replace the furniture and-"

"Psst… Mai," Yasu interpreted in a whispered tone, pointing towards the door. "I think you might want to turn around…"

"Turn around?! Yasu we don't have time-"

Noll raised an unamused brow the moment his assistant snapped her head back and met his gaze. Obviously she hadn't expected him to be there a day earlier than planned.

"Oh, uh… Naru!" Mai clapped her hands together as she twirled around and put on a taut grin. "I wasn't expecting you back this early! Uh, a case just came in and I have the files here!"

After Mai had reached out to grab the folder sitting on her old desk Oliver crossed his arms. His posture slacked, forcing the wall adjacent to the door to hold his weight. While he slouched back against the wall with crossed arms, Noll found himself totally mute. He had nothing at all to say to Mai, or anyone else in his presence. All he had originally wanted was to return to an office that lacked chaos. But since when could he ever return to an office that lacked chaos?

"I can get Yasu to read it to you if you want!" Mai added, defusing the sudden silence.

"I'd be more than happy to," quipped Yasu as he jumped up and clapped his hands together.

Oliver tilted his head to the side as his stoic face fell away. His brow twitched slightly as he pursed his lips. While stepping forward, Noll snatched the file from Mai's hand. As he towered over her Noll gave the younger girl a cross look.

"For your sake, Taniyama-san, I do hope that you were being facetious."

Watching as Mai seemed to shrink under his gaze, Noll stepped back and turned away. He glanced at Lin - who was still standing in the doorway - for a moment and then sighed.

"What… He doesn't even look at me?" Yasu mumbled to himself, rubbing the back of his head with a sweaty palm.

"Tea, Taniyama-san," ordered Noll sharply.

Her reply wasn't immediate, Noll noticed. And when she answered his request her voice wasn't the same as it had been earlier. If anything, Noll would have concluded that she was disappointed. But, of course, Noll had no reason to ponder the source of her disappointment, or even care.

He watched as she took a few steps back, and when she ran into her desk Oliver rolled his eyes. "Sometime today."

Jaw hanging open, Mai closed her hands into tight fists. Oliver, meanwhile, barely paid any attention to the younger girl while opening the file in his hands.

"You might want to consider closing your mouth. Flies might begin nest."

It was when Mai stormed into the small kitchen, cursing quite colorfully under her breath, that Noll took a seat in the lobby.

While he read - stared at the Japanese characters - Noll frowned. He recognized one symbol in particular. It translated to demon, and that more than piqued the teen's interest.

"May I ask when this particular case was brought to your attention?" Noll averted his gaze from the file and glanced at Mai. She stiffened slightly before finishing her walk across the room to hand Naru his tea. Quickly after, she sat down across from her employer.

"A couple days ago. This guy came in with his sister, telling us about his mother's house. The guy, Hirota, seemed really skeptic about the whole thing, but his sister was really scared. Hirota requested to have a meeting with you before we began any investigation. He basically called us all frauds, and said he wouldn't even consider letting us look into things unless you could prove that paranormal activity actually exists…"

"I see…" Oliver mutter. Another biased fool. "Taniyama-san, call Hirota-san then, and ask him to come in this afternoon. I'd like to begin investigating as soon as possible."

He noticed that Mai's features fell while he spoke to her. She must have really been upset about something… But, alas, Noll had no reason to dwell on Mai's mental health.

"And one last thing, Taniyama-san," his words cut through the girl like a hot blade, wounding her deeply. The shimmer in her eyes clearly displayed hurt.

"Y...Yes?" replied Mai with a hesitant whisper.

"Have Yasuhara-san repaint my office. _Today_."

Swallowing thickly, Mai shook her head forward and then retreated back to her desk. Meanwhile, Oliver resumed his examination of the case file.


	4. Restless

Noll could have just about killed Mai… Her obnoxiously loud grumbling and shifting was driving him absolutely mad. He did, however, remain quiet and continued to act as if he were asleep. If Noll was to alert Mai of his consciousness he would most certainly have gotten to hear all about his lack of manners for making her sleep on the floor. Really, though, Mai should have been used to sleeping on the floor. She lived in Japan, where sleeping on the floor was common practice. Noll was much more accustomed to an actual bed, therefore it clearly made much more sense that he slept on the sofa. He saw absolutely nothing wrong with his logic, but then again, Noll rarely saw flaw with his own logic.

"Stupid, selfish jerk…" Mai mumbled, just barely loud enough for Noll to hear. "Can't be a gentleman, can he? Everyone else got a bed…"

And it appeared that Noll got to hear one of Mai's rants, regardless of his attempt to pretend that he was asleep.

"Or a futon…" Mai continued, "But no, Mai has to be stuck with nothing more than a flat pillow and a blanket… On a hardwood floor…. All because stupid Naru couldn't man up and forget about his pride for one night…"

Exhaling loudly, Noll opened his eyes. He was never going to get to sleep if Mai didn't shut up… "Taniyama-san… please… can you keep your thoughts to yourself? Some of us would actually like to get a little rest."

"Oh!" exclaimed Mai. "So sorry to wake you from your beauty rest, _your highness_."

Noll, irritated only further, sat up. He glared down at the foot of the sofa, where Mai laid. "Is there really any reason for your hostility? Honestly, since I have returned I can't help but notice that you are quite rancorous towards me in private."

Mai looked at him as if he had blown a hole into another dimension. "Is it really imperceptible to you? God, you're so dense…"

"Then why don't you enlighten me." Noll stated - more like commanded - with an icy tone. He drew back slightly when Mai suddenly leaped up from the floor. She was on her knees, and her nose was inches from his own.

"Ever since you got back you've been a total ass to me. Before you left, I thought we were friends, but when you came back you made it clear that I was mistaken. I… I could handle that…. But at every turn you find something wrong with me, or the way I do something. It was different before you left. Yeah, you pointed out some of my flaws and mistakes then, but the way you went about it felt different. Now… it just seems cold and totally uncalled for, and it's constant. You had never complained about the way I organized your files, but suddenly I'm doing it all wrong? And somehow my tea totally sucks now, and isn't worth drinking? Don't think that I haven't noticed you dumping it in the plants in the office! And now…" Mai's face had begun to splotch with red patches as her eyes watered. Her throat tightened and her voice heightened in pitch "I'm the one who's left to sleep on the goddamn floor? If you're trying to say something to me just say it!"

At a loss, Noll could only manage to stare at his assistant. He couldn't overcome his sudden spell of muteness until Mai collapsed into a fit of sobs. Noll watched in a stone-like state as she crumpled to the floor and held herself while she shook. It was while watching her that Noll began to truly realize the pain he had been inflicting upon Mai. And it sickened him that it had been somewhat intentional. He did wish to distance himself from Mai, but never did he want to really hurt her…

"Mai I-" Noll froze. He hadn't meant to use her first name, but it had just slipped out… He was supposed to maintain distance.

At the sound of her name, Mai lifted her head. Her puffy eyes met with Naru's and her crying began to die away.

She was looking right at him, and Noll couldn't find it in himself to break eye contact. He could see how deeply she had been wounded by his words and actions, but there was something else in the look she gave him. Something that had been there since they first met.

"I… I… apologize for causing you such distress." Very hesitantly, Noll reached out and touched Mai's shoulder. "I did… have my own intentions for causing such trauma, and I see that no matter my own personal interests, that my actions were inexcusable. It has taken me until now to realize this."

Sniffling, Mai asked, "Why? What reason did you have to be like that?"

Noll remained silent for a long while. He knew telling Mai his reason for treating her rather poorly would upset her, and he didn't think that he could handle watching her completely breakdown again. Just one of her fits had rattled him, he couldn't imagine what another would do. But he couldn't bring himself to lie either.

"I was distancing myself...from you…" Noll's response was much slower than he would have like it to have been. With each syllable spoken he felt even more guilty and he felt even less justification for his treatment of his assistant.

"From… Me…" Mai repeated with a whisper. "I see…" She pulled herself away from Naru's grasp and laid back on the floor. With her back turned to him, Mai sighed, "I'll resign as soon as this case is finished. You won't have to worry about ever seeing or hearing from me again."

Chest tight, Noll inhaled sharply. That wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want Mai to just vanish. Not when she needed a job, one that paid well.

"No." Noll removed himself from the sofa and knelt to the floor. Again, he took hold of Mai's shoulder. "I don't want you to leave."

Turning her head back, Mai frowned. "Then what do you want? You said you wanted to distance yourself from me… And now you don't want me to do the one thing that would guarantee it?"

"You can't afford to do that." Noll quickly declared.

"Naru… I don't want your pity."

"I don't pity you."

Mai sighed, "Then how do you feel towards me?"

Something very strange happened to Noll in that moment. Never before had he felt his heart pound so aggressively when faced with such a simple question. The feeling was completely unnatural to him, and it very much perplexed him. He had an inkling as to why he felt as he did, though he had been denying such a thought for weeks.

But… perhaps for whatever reason, as irrational as it seemed, maybe the feelings he had been dismissing and or ignoring were real… Could he give his feelings a chance? Was he willing to?

It was obvious that Mai was losing any hope she had while waiting for Noll to say something. She turned away from him again, figuring that she wouldn't get an answer.

Noll frowned as he crossed his arms, "I don't know."


End file.
